Some retail entities allow a customer to order items electronically, e.g., via a website of the retail entities, and allow the customer to specify a physical retail location at which the customer wishes to pick-up the ordered item. The customer can then travel to the requested store location to pick-up the item. However, once the customer arrives at the store, the customer generally must wait in line and then present a receipt which can be used by an employee of the retail entity to request the item from the stock room/storage area, at which time another employee looks for the item. Once the item is located, the item can be brought to the customer.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of mobile technology to improve and/or advance the order fulfillment process. For example, grocery stores allow customers to order deli items through a kiosk in the store and allow the customers to provide a phone number with the order. The order is then placed in the queue and the customer can continue to shop while his deli order is prepared. When the order is ready, the deli can send a text message to the customer's cell phone notifying the customer that the order can be picked up. As a result, the customer no longer has to wait in line or “pick a number.” However, using this approach, the orders is still processed according to its place in the queue. Some pharmacies process prescription order in a similar manner (e.g., by automatically notifying the customer when the prescription is filled and ready for pick-up).
Despite the increased use of technology in order fulfillment, there remains inefficiencies. For example, customers may submit an order for items that they intend to pick-up at some future time. When these orders are processed according to a queue, a customer who submitted an order after another customer, but who intends to pick-up the order before the other customer, still has to wait for the other customers order to be filled. Some retail entities may inquire about the time the customer intends to pick-up the order and may prioritize the order to fulfill the order by the requested time. However, if the customer arrives substantially after the requested time, the retails entity's prioritization of the order may have been unnecessary and/or may have effected processing of orders submitted by other customers.